I could understand the shock Red Dragon and Ms. Star felt.
After all, given my previous recklessness, dying in the building would have been a perfectly normal outcome.
Instead, I hadn't died. I'd even made it outside and seemed to have gotten close to Adele. It was definitely hard to imagine.
But as seasoned mission operatives, we all knew how to control our emotions.
After their initial shock, Red Dragon and Ms. Star suppressed their feelings in unison and continued playing their respective roles.
"Paul?"
Before he even reached them, Red Dragon called out in a low voice.
"Who are you?"
Once Paul realized they were really after him, he panicked and gave a thoroughly unprofessional response.
"The characters who died in your story."
Eyes fixed on Paul, Red Dragon gave a cold laugh and walked straight up to him.
"Someone's very interested in your story. Sorry for the trouble, but you'll have to come with us."
"You're not the police. You have no right to do this."
He'd clearly come because of the "rumors" from before, and Paul obviously wasn't willing to comply.
Unfortunately, this futile argument did nothing but indirectly confirm that he was indeed the source of the rumors.
"That's fine. The police died in your story, too."
Ms. Star had now come up from the other direction. She smiled as she spoke.
Paul was momentarily speechless at her response.
The two colleagues who'd come with Red Dragon were clearly satisfied with their performance. They didn't even bother to say anything, simply taking up positions and showing off the weapons at their waists to back them up.
"Angelo, did you bring them here?"
Knowing he had no way out, Paul didn't make any foolish attempts to escape. Instead, he chose the safest option: taking his anger